Can Christians Work on Sunday?

1. 0:00The Gospel of the Lord’s Day - Lord’s Day 38: What is God's will for you in the fourth commandment?
2. 0:15First, let the gospel ministry and schools for it be maintained.
3. 0:20and that especially on the festive day of rest, I diligently attend the assembly of God's people to learn what God's Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to the Lord publicly,
4. 0:33and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.
5. 0:36Second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways Let the Lord work in me through his Spirit and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath.
6. 0:46The essence of the fourth commandment is that we are to devote to God one day each week as his Sabbath day, a day to rest and worship him.
7. 0:56Now the big debate here is whether God still requires a weekly day and like this since Christ's coming. In Colossians 2:16-17 Paul says, "Let no one pass
8. 1:06judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." Some say that means there
9. 1:20is no weekly day of rest that we need to keep holy anymore. Others point out that Paul in the context is simply saying we're not saved by Jewish holy days, we're
10. 1:29saved by Christ and Christ alone. What's more, he's not saying the fourth commandment per se is obsolete, he's saying it's Old Testament observance on the seventh day.
11. 1:39of the week is obsolete. But that doesn't mean now there's no weekly Sabbath or day of rest at all. For one thing God commanded or he established the weekly
12. 1:49Sabbath already at creation, not at Mount Sinai. And he even made that the foundation for this commandment when he gave it in Exodus 20. It's grounded in his creating
13. 1:59everything in six days and then resting the seventh day. That's why he blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. And that indicates that there's still a weekly
14. 2:08Sabbath and the New Testament elsewhere confirms this. At the end of Mark 2, Jesus condemns the Pharisees' legalistic abuse of the Sabbath, but he doesn't do away with it. He actually
15. 2:19stores the proper view of it. He says in Mark 2 verse 27, "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath." These words show not only that the weekly Sabbath is actually
16. 2:31a gift for us, but also that it continues. And that said, there is a change in the day. The New Testament refers to the Christians meeting together several times on the first day of the week,
17. 2:43indicating that day has been changed from the seventh day to the first day, because that was the day that Christ rose from the dead. And I think that helps us
18. 2:52understand what the day is ultimately all about. It's all about the gospel.
19. 2:56It's not meant to be a burden. It's meant really to be
20. 2:59be a gift. It's kind of like this, let's say your mom or dad or your boss gives you a big job, a difficult job to do, and in the middle of it, before you're done, they call you inside for a bit of a rest and for a snack and maybe some coffee or juice to refresh and revive you.
21. 3:19Well, that's what the Sabbath day is meant to be like.
22. 3:22God has given us all of this work to do, and it's not easy, but every week, He tells us, as it were, to come inside and rest, and have some refreshment, and be revived.
23. 3:34Not just for our bodies, but also for our souls. The kind of refreshment, rest, revival.
24. 3:39that he gives us in the gospel. And that, I think, is why the catechism's description of God's will for us in the fourth commandment begins by saying that the
25. 3:49gospel ministry and schools for it be maintained. Because without the gospel of Jesus Christ and his saving work, there is no true rest. And so it's of first importance
26. 3:59that the gospel ministry and education for it be supported and maintained.
27. 4:05And then that we make use of it by coming together in the public worship of God.
28. 4:11We see that, for example, in Leviticus 23:3, where the Lord tells Moses to say to Israel, "Six days shall work be done.
29. 4:19On the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation.
30. 4:24A holy convocation refers to a gathering of people for the special worship of God.
31. 4:29That's what God calls his people to do also in the New Testament.
32. 4:33Hebrews 10:25 warns against neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, and instead for encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing
33. 4:44near. That's why the catechism goes on to say that God's will for us in the fourth commandment is also that we, especially on the festive day of rest,
34. 4:53diligently attend the assembly of God's people to learn what God's Word teaches, to participate in the sacrament, to pray to the Lord publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.
35. 5:04These are all things in the New Testament that the church was called to do when they came together in worship. But they're also all ways in which God
36. 5:13provides rest and refreshment and revival for us. It's a bit like a birthday when children have a birthday. It's kind of like their day. The family sings "Happy Birthday" to them.
37. 5:26They get given gifts. Maybe their mom and dad let them choose what they want for supper.
38. 5:32It's their day, a day that's dedicated especially to them. It's not their siblings or their friends' day. And yet, Their siblings, their friends, their family who are there, they do get to benefit.
39. 5:43They get to enjoy birthday cake.
40. 5:44They get to be part of a birthday party if there is one.
41. 5:47That's like what every Sunday is.
42. 5:49It's not our day.
43. 5:51It's the Lord’s Day.
44. 5:52It's meant to be a day for the special worship of God, not us.
45. 5:57And yet we also benefit from that through His ministry.
46. 5:59means of grace, he gives us rest and refreshment and revival. And he really, he gives us himself in a special way. And so it's a festive day, and it's meant to
47. 6:11help us continue in faith. That's actually the second main thing the catechism highlights as part of God's will in the fourth commandment, that every day of my
48. 6:19I rest from my evil ways. Let the Lord work in me through His Spirit and so begin in this life the eternal Sabbath. That's the way that we enter the eternal rest that God has promised and gives to
49. 6:32His people in Christ. It's through faith, resting not in ourselves but in Christ and in His saving work.
50. 6:39And God calls us to worship Him every week on the Lord’s Day to help us in that.
51. 6:45And that's such a beautiful reflection of how good God is and such an encouragement to keep His day holy.
52. 6:59you

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